Monopolizing Fortunes (87)
Monopolizing Fortunes (87)
"I've known for a while now that the number of presences around us kept increasing."
Of course Namgung Seol-rin wouldn't miss something like that. She added, "And their killing intent is no joke."
From the steadily growing number of presences they could tell they were getting closer to the main village.
Suddenly two people dropped down in front of them. The two, who had jumped down from the trees, immediately leveled their spears.
"Bringing an enemy all the way here! Have you lost your mind?"
"He said he wanted to meet the chieftain, so I brought him."
"You idiot! Is that any kind of reason?"
"He swore by Jeopmasin that he would not become an enemy."
"How does an outsider know of Jeopmasin?"
"I don't know. Anyway, he knew."
At that point Do Tong-dal stepped forward. Standing in front of the hostages, Do Tong-dal first set down his weapon.
"I am called Do Tong-dal, a man of the outsider people. I wish to meet the chieftain. And I would like to exchange your tribesmen for our captured outsider soldiers."
The sound of a whistle came from within the jungle. It was likely a signal that there were no more enemies besides them.
"We'll kill you all, scalp every one of you, and hang you up!"
"Before that, inform the chieftain that guests have arrived."
"You people aren't qualified to meet the chieftain."
Do Tong-dal shouted angrily.
"You don't have the authority to decide that! At the very least you should notify the Head Warrior of our visit!"
The man flinched and asked, "How do you know such a thing?" but Do Tong-dal simply glared at him.
And after one ke passed, they were allowed to advance. Before long they could see the six captured soldiers as well.
They were hanging from a tree like fruit, both arms bound.
"Chilseong!"
Do Tong-dal grabbed Song Ji-bong, who was about to run forward while calling out the name.
"Don't move rashly unless you want them all killed."
Do Tong-dal examined the prisoners. They were hanging limp, but from the breathing he could sense, they were not dead.
A short while later, an old woman leaning on a staff appeared from among the thick undergrowth. The old woman, who had all sorts of feathers stuck in her hair, stopped right below the prisoners.
The old woman looked at the tribesmen captured by Do Tong-dal and asked.
"You want a hostage exchange?"
"That is secondary. My purpose is to meet the chieftain."
The old woman, who had been watching Do Tong-dal with festering eyes, raised her hand. At that, the tribesmen pulled the prisoners down from the tree.
"Wake them."
At the old woman's single command, two tribesmen tilted the gourd bottles at their waists into the prisoners' mouths.
A short while later, the prisoners who had been hanging limp like corpses woke one by one. Their hazy eyes returned to normal, and they staggered to their feet.
"Chilseong!"
Hearing Song Ji-bong's voice, one man shouted "Squad Leader!" and ran over. The spear-wielding tribesmen did not bother to stop him. It was the confidence that they could kill them at any time.
When all six prisoners had returned to their side, Do Tong-dal also untied the ropes binding the tribesmen.
The hostage exchange ended simply like that. Do Tong-dal wanted to send the soldiers back first, but it had already grown dark.
No matter how much he had taught them how to survive at night, sending them back immediately would be no different from shoving them into a death trap.
"Surely you won't send us back from here, will you?"
The old woman showed her sparse teeth. It was a smile, but it looked grotesque.
"Are you afraid the jungle will eat you?"
Do Tong-dal also held back a smile.
"Do I look like someone who would fear the jungle at night?"
"Hm. I'll admit you're more unusual than the outsiders I've seen so far."
"Then will you let me meet the chieftain now?"
"You'd have to stake your life."
"No one enters the jungle without staking their life."
"You'll have to be blindfolded. Will you still come?"
"Of course."
There was no choice. Do Tong-dal reassured the soldiers, who were afraid of being blindfolded.
They had come this far safely and even rescued the prisoners, so the soldiers' faith in Do Tong-dal was absolute. Thus they too accepted the blindfolds without protest.
Do Tong-dal took hold of the stick a tribesman held out, and Namgung Seol-rin and the soldiers followed in the same manner.
They had not walked more than a few steps when something suddenly came flying at his face. Do Tong-dal raised his hand and caught the thing attacking his face. From the feel alone he could tell it was the old woman's staff.
"Oh-ho, not bad."
"I hope the test is only once. I won't hold back next time."
"Keul-keul-keul... I like you. A man should have that much nerve."
After walking for about two ke, they felt something different from before. It suddenly grew cool, and warmth from fires could be felt on both sides. The floor was hard too, so they could tell it was a cave.
Only after coming deep into the cave did the old woman have them remove the blindfolds. He had not expected the Yeosan Tribe's main village to be a cave. Most Miao peoples built houses in the trees in the middle of the jungle and formed their villages there.
It was an enormous underground plaza. But unusually, the ceiling of the underground plaza was wide open, revealing a black sky densely studded with white stars.
Countless caves were bored into the walls of the circular underground plaza, which measured seventy jang on one side. With ropes hanging down equal to the number of caves, the place looked like a beehive.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Hundreds of tribesmen standing in a circle in the underground plaza pounded the floor with their spears to make the sound.
Do Tong-dal spoke to Namgung Seol-rin.
"The welcome is quite grand."
"It doesn't look like a welcome."
"If you think of it as a welcome, at least your mind is at ease."
They stopped in the center of the plaza. The sunken spot looked like it would collect quite a lot of water when it rained.
The sound of the tribesmen pounding their spears grew faster. The spear-pounding, which had been going at about ten times the speed of a heartbeat, stopped at some point as if it were a lie.
And from deep within, one person walked out. It was a woman. In this hot summer she was wrapped from head to toe in leather clothing, and all sorts of jewels hung thickly over her entire body.
Her face was hidden behind black gauze and could not be seen. All the tribesmen prostrated themselves toward her and bowed.
The old woman approached the chieftain woman and whispered something. They were too far away to hear what conversation they were having.
Returning to her place, the old woman asked Do Tong-dal.
"What is it you want from the chieftain?"
"I want to obtain go."
"What? That's impossible!"
"Shouldn't you ask the chieftain first?"
The old woman, who had been glaring at Do Tong-dal, went to the chieftain and relayed his words. During the not-so-short conversation, the old woman's expression changed repeatedly.
Then at the end, she grinned.
'That's not good.'
While the old woman was returning, Do Tong-dal slowly scanned the tribesmen. There were roughly eight hundred. Of course, this number would not be all of them.
If they could not resolve this through talk, he would have to take the go even if it meant fighting, and he might have to kill all of them.
'I'd rather not go that far, though.'
If only one path remained to choose in the end, Do Tong-dal would walk that path without hesitation.
"There is a condition."
'Hm?'
Since it wasn't an outright refusal, it was welcome news.
"If you fight one of our tribesmen and win, I will almost accept your proposal."
Winning a fight wouldn't be that difficult. But he couldn't understand the meaning of "almost" in the old woman's words.
"What do you mean by almost?"
"Let's discuss that after you win. Not that it will happen."
That was the meaning of the smile the old woman had made at the end of her conversation with the chieftain. The old woman believed Do Tong-dal could never win this fight.
"Paorap tta!"
When the old woman shouted, the tribesmen's gazes turned to one spot. It was a cave about ten jang above the ground.
"Uwooooo—!"
A monstrous cry rang out from inside the cave, and someone jumped down. It was a height of ten jang. Unless one was a master of the Lightness Art, it would end with at least broken legs.
Even though the plaza was lit with torches, it was not as bright as broad daylight. So at first he thought it was a giant monkey.
Thud!
Only after it landed on the floor and straightened its back did he realize it was a person with hair all over its body.
Not only the body but the face was covered in hair as well. It looked closer to a monkey than a person.
The giant of a man, seven cheok tall, approached with a shambling gait. Even the way he walked resembled a monkey.
The monkey-like man, holding an iron club studded with iron spikes, stood at a distance of five jang from Do Tong-dal.
"I am Dantabura."
When the man spoke, he shifted one step closer to being human.
"I'm grateful to you."
"For what?"
"If I defeat you, the chieftain will spend the night with me."
It was short, but the meaning was clear.
"Wouldn't your chances of spending the night with the chieftain go up at least a little if you shaved?"
Thud!
Dantabura slammed the iron club into the floor. Stone fragments flew as a hole was gouged into the hard ground.
"Anyone who mocks my appearance dies."
"Sorry. I didn't think you had an inferiority complex or anything. When does the fight start?"
Dantabura raised his iron club and shouted, "Right now!" As Do Tong-dal drew his sword, Dantabura kicked off the ground.
It was astonishing leaping power. There was no way he had cultivated Internal Energy, yet he leaped a full jang into the air and brought the iron club down toward Do Tong-dal.
Do Tong-dal threw himself to the left to dodge. The iron club that landed where he had been made a pit one ja deep.
That attack made it certain that Dantabura was trying to kill him.
Humm—!
Dantabura's iron club swung at his head. It was fast because his innate strength was tremendous, but not enough to hit Do Tong-dal.
Ducking to avoid it, Do Tong-dal moved to the right and cut Dantabura's thigh.
He was certain he had left a wound deep enough to make movement difficult. But the sensation in Do Tong-dal's hand felt like cutting a log.
The wound was not very deep, and only a little blood showed. Even at that small wound, Dantabura grew angry and charged in madly, swinging his iron club.
It was wild, flailing attacks, but they were so fast that Do Tong-dal retreated step by step.
He tried blocking the iron club with his sword as a test and nearly dropped it. If he clashed using all his Internal Energy, the sword would probably shatter. The man's strength was that tremendous.
Do Tong-dal leaped over the iron club sweeping at his waist and jumped clean over Dantabura. With his head pointed downward, he brought his sword down toward Dantabura's shoulder.
This time he had properly infused his power, so the sword cut Dantabura fairly deep.
"Uaaaa—!"
Enraged by the wound, Dantabura swung his iron club, but it posed no threat at all. No matter how much innate strength he had, there were limits against a martial artist trained in martial arts.
Dantabura's wounds increased, and his movements gradually slowed. Do Tong-dal had two chances to cut off Dantabura's breath in one stroke. The reason he had ended it with light wounds was because he needed to obtain the go.
No matter how much it was a duel, an outsider killing a tribesman did not seem like a good idea.
Dantabura attacked Do Tong-dal while spitting all sorts of curses, but by now he must have realized he was no match.
"Stop now. I don't particularly want to kill you."
"Don't insult me!"
Do Tong-dal said while dodging the noticeably slowed iron club.
"You go find another monkey... no, woman. The world is wide and there are plenty of monkeys."
Do Tong-dal corrected himself with "No, woman," but Dantabura's rage did not seem to subside.
"Huff! Huff!"
Bleeding from the wounds covering his body, Dantabura gasped for breath. Then he reached for his back.
"I will never lose to an outsider."
In the hand that came from behind was a small bottle. Seeing it, the old woman shouted.
"Dantabura! Stop!"
But Dantabura broke the neck of the bottle and drank the contents in one gulp. The startled old woman rushed over and threw herself into the middle of the fight.
"Drinking kkiyum! Have you gone mad! This fight is void! You...!"
"Get out of the way!"
Dantabura, his eyes bloodshot as if filled with blood, swung the iron club at the old woman. The old woman did not have the strength to withstand that iron club.
Do Tong-dal ran in front of the old woman and blocked the iron club with his sword.
Clang—!
The sword shattered into pieces, and Do Tong-dal and the old woman were sent flying as one. A shard of the broken sword lodged in his shoulder, and the iron club that had smashed the sword struck Do Tong-dal in the chest.
"Ugh—!"
Groaning, Do Tong-dal flew through the air, and just before hitting the ground he wrapped his arms around the old woman and turned his body. A new pain was felt in his back.
* * *